Prospect League gives college baseball players a taste of what playing in the pros is like (with video)

LORAIN — To be the best, you need to always be at the top of your game and constantly honing your skills.
The Lorain County Ironmen provide college ballplayers with that exact opportunity.
The Ironmen, members of the Prospect League, provide collegiate players from around the country an opportunity to play ball over the summer, combining elements of professional style baseball into a league that helps prepare the players to take the step to the next level.
“This league conditions players,” Ironmen manager Joe Rhomberg said. “You’re going to go out there and play a lot of games at the next level, whether than be something like the minors, majors or an independent league. You play at least a hundred games and you play practically every day.
“Playing in the Prospect League lets these guys get used to a 60-plus game schedule. It gets them, particularly the field players, conditioned for the type of schedule that the next level demands.”
The length of the season is only one of the ways that the Prospect League is different from college ball. Additionally, teams will travel across the country to play their opponents, the batters must use wooden bats, teams are comprised of players from any division of college baseball, making for an interesting blend of talent levels on any given team.
“It’s definitely one of the top 10 leagues in the country,” said Jake Hall, a Willoughby resident and sophomore member of the Mercyhurst University team. “That definitely drew me to the team. I also only live about 45 minutes away, so that’s a plus.”
Milan resident and Edison graduate Taylor Emody said it is the length of the schedule that, while being a great tool to prepare for the next level, is one of the hardest things to overcome.
“In college we play only one or two games during the week,” the Ohio University senior said. “It takes some getting used to. It’s like a Major League Baseball style of play where you play every day. You have to learn to balance. You have to pace yourself while giving everything so that you can make it through the entire season. It’s a grind.”
For Amherst’s Tyler Bires, the best part of playing for the Ironmen is the level of competition.
“I feel like you see everyone’s best every day,” the Coker College junior said. “Whether it be pitching-wise or hitting-wise, there are really no holes in most of the teams’ lineups.
“Like, for pitching, you’re going to see a lot of ones. In college you may face a one, a two and a three. Here, you may face three ones in a series.”
From a pitching standpoint, Hall said that he enjoys that batters must use a wooden bat. While the wooden bat rule is intended to help batters transition into professional leagues where wooden bats are mandatory, Hall said that he believes the rule initially gives pitchers an advantage.
“As a pitcher, you are able to work in a lot more,” he said. “The hitters are the ones that need to adjust more than us, so it’s to our advantage until they can figure it all out.”
While the differences between the college game and Prospect League play can be difficult to manage, Ohio State pitcher and Westlake resident Joey Stoll said that the challenges are negated by the opportunity to further hone his skills.
“For me personally, I need to get innings in,” said Stoll. “I didn’t pitch a lot up until the college level. For me, it’s really just working on my stuff, getting the innings in, facing the batters and getting the live game action in. That’s what I like about it here, you get plenty of innings and you get plenty of batters.”
Hall said that he is grateful for the opportunity to play with the Ironmen.
“This is something that allows me to improve,” he said. “It’s close enough that I can play in front of friends and family. It’s a great opportunity.”
Bires echoed his sentiments.
“This is a unique opportunity,” he said. “You get to play every day and get better. If I, or any of us for that matter, make it to the next level, it has a lot to do with our time here and the ability to improve out game.”

About the Author

Jon is a 2011 graduate of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. While at Calvin, Jon worked for the college newspaper, Chimes, where he was the sports editor and co-managing editor. Jon began writing for The Morning Journal in March of 2013. Reach the author at jbehm@morningjournal.com
or follow Jon on Twitter: @MJ_JBehm.